Review: Snotty Hicks, by L Hannon

Snotty Hicks was playing at The Garage Coffee, Music & More, on Saturday night as my husband and I walked in the building, and made me remember my roots deep in the pine woods of East Texas. He is, quite possibly, the Baxter Black of the music world. With both a sense of humor and a view to the traditions of country music when it was still country, watching him play and listening to him sing was pure pleasure without pressure. Toes tapped, people smiled, it was an all-around good time.

How can you not have a sense of humor, when you’re known as “Snotty,” anyway? His beginning band was called “Chuck Puke and the Breech Babies.” Not sure Snotty’s ever made good money out of his musical endeavors, which may be why his official bio describes him as a “gray haired, hat passin’ troubadour.” I grew up with folks like Hicks, and listening to him was like going home.

He’s also a rabble-rouser – his song “Bullet in the Chamber,” will thrill anyone who has a “They can have my gun when they pry it from my cold dead fingers,” bumper sticker on their car. He’s not limited to country sounds, though “Folding Money” brings back memories of “The Doors,” which you would think would be odd with an acoustic guitar set, but actually worked really well.

My only negative was that it was sometimes hard to understand the individual words, but most of the time, I didn’t care, as I was trying to figure out whether he was driving the guitar or it was driving him. Either way, it got my blood pumping. Obviously not just mine, as there was a set of folks that drove all the way from Odessa to see him perform.

Hicks is local, from Girvin, and a familiar face at The Garage, Coffee, Music & More. At 1110 N. Main Street, in Fort Stockton, Texas, they are a locally owned and operated coffee, vapor shop, determined to bring live music to the area, with pretty much every genre represented. Upcoming events can be found at their website at www.thegaragetx.com, call (432) 701-0588, or email them at sales@thegaragetx.com.

Lisa C Hannon’s email is lisa@lisachannon.com.
She lives and writes in West Texas.
Her first novel, “This Little Pig”,
a murder mystery set in East Texas,
can be found on Amazon.com,
as well as her lighthearted collection of essays,
“She’s Thinking Out Loud”.